In an arrogant display this week, President Joe Biden told reporters that he has "more important" things to do than visit the border.
According to Breitbart, Biden made that remark on Tuesday as he departed from the White House to attend an event in Arizona.
Joe Biden says there are “more important things going on” than visiting the southern border, as he continues to ignore the humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/mnYnMSZwxd
— GOP (@GOP) December 6, 2022
Fox News reported this week that 73,000 illegal immigrants managed to evade Border Patrol agents in November, setting a new record.
This brings the total number of so-called "gotaways" to 137,000 since the beginning of the present fiscal year, which began in October.
That figure comes from the estimated 600,000 gotaways in fiscal year 2022 and the 389,155 seen in fiscal year 2021.
Fox News also reported late last month that there were 400,000 migrant encounters with Border Patrol personnel since the beginning of October, a number which is expected to reach half a million before the middle of December.
Meanwhile, some 2.3 million migrant encounters were documented by Border Patrol over the course of fiscal year 2022.
Some Republicans have pointed to those numbers as evidence that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas needs to be impeached.
In October, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham sent a letter to Mayorkas in which they accused him of "a gross dereliction of duty."
Interestingly, Fox News contributor Jessica Chasmar pointed out in a report on Wednesday that while the president says he is too busy for the border, Biden has found plenty of time to go on vacation.
Since taking office in 2021, the president has taken 59 trips to his home state of Delaware at a cost of $11 million to taxpayers.
"The $11 million receipt for Biden’s Delaware trips is probably a significant underestimate since it does not tally many other miscellaneous costs," she noted.
"These include spending for additional helicopters that travel along with him, travel to or from military airports before or after an Air Force One flight, and accommodations for staff who accompany him," Chasmar explained.
